Baked Radicchio

Radicchio (pronounced ra-dee-kee-yo) is a leafy Italian vegetable mostly available in the fall seasons. It’s a bit spicy and if not cooked with sweet ingredients, can turn out a little on the bitter side. If you buy mixed salad greens, especially the organic kinds, you may not even know that small pieces of radicchio are often included.
 I personally love radicchio and after perusing hundreds of cookbooks, I’ve discovered that it’s used in many farm-to-table recipes in France as well as Italy. I’d never baked with it until making this recipe, loosely based off of  a suggestion by Lidia Bastianich in her book, Lidia’s Italy.

I hope you’ll try this dish, especially if you’ve never had radicchio before. It goes nicely with Simple Steak and a side of potatoes any way you like them. Best of all, it doesn’t take long to prepare and serve.

Baked Radicchio

Ingredients

2 large heads of radicchio, cleaned and cut long ways

2 TB. plus 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, cut into long, thin strips

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 Tb. water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Wash and trim radicchio. Cut into long strips, dry and set aside.
3. In a shallow pan heat 2 Tb. olive oil and sauté onion, then garlic.
4. Into a deep, large, rectangualar baking dish place one layer of radicchio. Add some of the onion & garlic mixture, a little parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Continue to layer with radicchio, parmesan, olive oil and salt/pepper.
5. Pour vinegar and water over the top and mix into the dish. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Bismillah and Buon Appetito!